A new exhibition by local artist Simon Ray is all about his daily commute over the hill on the train. The exhibition titled A Constant Flow of Light is now showing in the Forsyth Barr Windows Gallery at Aratoi.
“The train ride from the Wairarapa to Wellington is a regular commute for many,” Ray says. “The train offers a kind of inverted experience of the landscape: we the travellers sit still while hills, trees, buildings, rivers, ranges and landforms rush, slide and creep in and out of view.”
He says that when the train is especially close to banks and trees the scene is impossible to track – the view rushes, merges and blurs like an abstract painting.
I was on the Wellington train and I asked myself, “What if I could paint the scenery and make it look like an animation? I decided to use my 3-hour daily commute time constructively, so I drew, and I have filled up many notebooks since!”
I decided to use my 3-hour daily commute time constructively, so I drew, and I have filled up many notebooks since!
During these journeys, Simon has been making paintings of the landscapes he sees out the window and discreet observational sketches of fellow commuters. Most travellers are resting, reading, working or watching as the landscape rushes past.
The exhibition shows 90 painted landscape frames, the corresponding animation and a carriage full of sketched travellers.
Simon Ray: A Constant Flow of Light is showing until 15 November at Aratoi. Entry fee applies, Friends of Aratoi and under 16’s are free.
